#Ixalan

[niuttuc]

Alright, I'll start with the bad news, no dedicated ecological treaty or animal husbandry guides are available, for free or not. The story tends to focus on people and their interactions, with animals being described but mostly a background element.

I do believe Indriks are based on Indricotherium, though they only appear on a few cards. They're found on the world of Ravnica, one that has been for millenia covered in an Ecumenopolis of the same name. This likely caused plenty of ecosystems to collapse, even with dedicated people to try to prevent that. While there are still wild animals that adapted to the cityscape, Indriks we see are domesticated, used as beasts of labors. If you want to look into creatures of Ravnica, it's notable to know the Simic are also involved on the world, one of the main factions of the set that are dedicated to healing and biological manipulation. They create all sorts of impossible or improbably biologies, held together with magic.

Now for the dinos...

Most of the dinos you picked out come from the world of Ixalan (and the continent of Ixalan, mostly because whomever named the world didn't bother to ask if there were other parts to the world before spreading the name.) It's not the only world with Dinosaurs, but it's likely the one where they have the most prominent presence.

Ixalan (the continent) is based on meso-america, and the dominant force on the continent is the Sun Empire. Dinosaurs dominate the ecosystem there, and the Sun Empire domesticated them for work and war both. Wild ones are still plentiful though. They come in all shapes and size, and were instrumental in beating back the Vampire Conquistadors coming to colonize the place from the europe-inspired continent of Torrezon.

(The conquistadors also accidentally awakened their Vampire Jesus-equivalent who rested on Ixalan, she took one look at them and asked what the fuck they were doing, and promptly left for home to stop this "Holy" Crusade she thought was an abomination. A schism ensued.)

Ixalan's most recent set revealed a Journey to the Center of the Earth-style underground inner world to Ixalan from which the current people of the surface emigrated long ago before losing contact. It also has its dinosaurs. Note the horizon curving up.

You can find many dinosaurs on Ixalan, from ones that try to match real species to quite a few fictitious ones. On the ground, flying in the air, or swimming in the ocean. Here's a link to the cards depicting Dinosaurs on Ixalan.

Ixalan is also the world Mischievous Pup is from! And it is a Xolo. If you want to read more about Ixalan, as a world, there are free worldbuilding summary articles here and here for the first visit to the world, and here for the second. Such free world guides are available for most worlds in the past fifteen years, they're good nuggets of worldbuilding.

There is also a free planeshift Ixalan pdf about converting the world to a D&D campaign because Wizards of the Coast, that has some more worldbuilding elements, mostly lifted straight from the Art Book: Ixalan, which is NOT free, a physical book, and has a ton of art and lore from the world.

As far as Gigantosaurus, we don't know exactly where its from, what it eats, or how it works. This one promo art does make it impossibly huge, there's a few creatures on that scale in magic. I tend to assume it's an artistic license to justify the stats because it raises too many questions or not, they tend not to appear in stories, or when they do, not be nearly as large as they're made out to be in art. But one could imagine a magic-based biology that'd either allow them to survive at that size or to temporarily grow to it in response to threats.

Preposterous Proportions IS very funny. Not much else to say about it.

If you're interested in creatures, I might also encourage you to look into Vivien Reid and her flavor text.

She's a worlds-travelling mage that saved as much of her dying home world's creatures as spirits in her magical bow. They kinda shot down her entire character arc by defeating the guy who destroyed her world without her being involved, but she's appreciative of nature and creatures across worlds. Her flavor texts when she's around are typically observations on the beasts depicted, though sometimes a bit too one-liner or pithy for my taste.

Two other worlds jump to mind when it comes to dinosaurs or paleontological creatures. The first is Muraganda, though the amount of material for it is very low.

It's touted as a prehistoric world, and features both dinosaurs and dinosaur-people, as well as mobile Oozes, mammoths, sapient gorillas and more. Sadly, the recent visit for it was part of a car race set featuring two other worlds, so it didn't have that much room to be itself, most cards focusing on the race itself or the other two worlds. We did get a third of a worldbuilding article for it, though also focused on the race, and a Conan-the-barbarian-esque side story featuring people from the plane.

The second world is Ikoria. Now Ikoria's biologies are intentionally weird and wonky, the premise of that world is that it is full of monsters that magically mutate rapidly, as a result of a magical crystal network. There are five main types of such monsters, one centered in each color. Dinosaurs, of course, cats, elementals, nightmares, and more generic beasts.

WotC's inspiration for Ikoria was to mix together Kaiju movies, Monster Hunter and a dash of Pokémon to temper the mixture. I wouldn't say it's a perfect success, but it has its charms. It's a world where humans struggle to survive the natural world, where powerful creatures abound. Some hide, some fortify, some try to hunt the monsters, and some others magically bond with them.

Here is the worldbuilding article for Ikoria. Since Monsters are the star of the show, it does go a bit more into depth about the creatures of the world than most of these, though likely not as much as you'd like.

I think that's already plenty! Between your questions and these additions, this is becoming quite a long post. Oh, but if you like Cemetery Recruitment, I'll leave one last card for the road. They have fun with necromancy.

This is a post I'm interested to be seen by people who either do not play Magic: the Gathering or engage with it rather casually. If that's not you, feel free to reblog to reach a wider audience, but the exercise in here will not be as useful.

A few months back, the game released a new Base Set of cards called Foundations. It is meant to be a new batch of hundreds of cards that will always be available, that are simpler on average (though not necessarily less powerful) to be a point of entry for new players. Something else it does wonderfully is be a palette of the many worlds, aesthetics and vibes within the game. This is where you come in:

This is the important bit below

Take a look at the cards in the set! You don't even have to read them, there are many, many of them. If one of them or more catches your attention, reblog this post with an image of it, and if you want to learn anything more about it! Be it the world it depicts, its history within the game, or even the mechanics if they are what intrigues you.

This is the important bit above

Some of the cards are either generic or from worlds we haven't visited yet, but the vast majority fit within a larger whole, and there might be more like them to point at! I will try to elaborate on what you want to learn, and maybe even point you towards similar cards or entire card sets on the world or subject you took note of.

In case you're totally unfamiliar with the game, I'll put a short summary under the cut:

Magic: the Gathering is a fantasy trading card game that's over thirty years old. People are invited to create their own deck of cards out of a pool of nearly 30,000 different cards at this point. The gameplay has been summed up many times as being something that sits in between Chess and Poker as far as overall appeal, though the actual action-by-action game is unlike both of them. Just like with playing cards, though not as extreme, there are different ways to play with the cards too, varying which are legal, or the exact rules they're played under.

It is a deep game that can be enjoyed at many levels of engagement, and will take exactly as much time and money out of you as you're willing to give it. From $0 free to play gaming on arena or occasional board game night engagement, to spending hundreds regularly to keep up with a tournament metagame, to spending thousands if not tens of thousands on super rare collectible cards.

In the past few years, Magic has started collaborating with other franchises to make cards for their properties. Lord of the Rings, Fallout, Doctor Who, and plenty more, though it keeps making cards for its own worlds and lore.

That lore can be summed up as a magical multiverse full of very different worlds, each with their own aesthetics, magics, factions and struggles. They are interconnected by rare mages that are able to travel between them, and a major event recently started connecting them further, allowing the layperson to be able to travel between them using less practical ways to do so. Within those worlds, stories happen, sometimes through the cards themselves, sometimes through written fiction, be them novels, online stories or even comic books. Magic cards are divided into five different colors of magic, each with its own associated philosophy, elemental associations, mechanics, aesthetics. Those five colors can then combine and interact to form complex characters, factions, spells and more.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Verdant Sun's Avatar

"Ixalli's fertile rays enliven us all. Each of us is a testament to the sun's strength and love." —Chitlati, Lightning Rider

Artist: Izzy TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[witnesstheabsurd]

[Gishath, Sun's Avatar]

Proxy I was commissioned to produce for a client

[akreon]

Kay art I had the pleasure to create for The Lost Caverns of IXALAN by Wizards of the Coast.

[warrior-of-tol-angata]

"It is not a trouble! We will bring you back whatever you want to eat! We can even try hunting a roc! Large birds are a lot easier to bring down than dragons, they do not breathe fire!" Shregresha bellowed. "To let someone in your company go hungry when you could get them food is wrong!

"We usually have more people when we hunt dragons, let's stick to goats for today, especially as I'm still a bit exhausted from last night at the omenpath," Turrak said.

"Fine. You are right, as usual," Shregresha said. "Anyways, would anyone like to go goat-hunting with us?"

( @obscura-omenseeker @squire-of-eldraine @dusk-legion-diplomacy @revelrysnameisrevel )

Welcome to the Family

Arturo walked with his mother back to the courtyard where Florence was explaining to everyone where they could stay. Hugo was weaving himself between everyone, greeting them in the way only a floppy, slobbery dog could.

"Everyone," Arturo said as he approached, "this is Lady Caterina Vazante, my mother."

"Oh, well you have certainly gathered the unique little entourage," Caterina said with a smile. "Hello, there."

@obscura-omenseeker | @warrior-of-tol-angata | @squire-of-eldraine

[jasper-the-menace]

We have reached catastrophic blorbo levels

[reuxben]

Here’s our MTGinktober for “Sun,” starring Huatli, the Sun's Heart and Elspeth, Sun's Champion! I guess nobody wanted to hear her flappin', double slappin', no-nappin', scrappin', unflappable slam poetry--tough crowd.

Click this post’s Source link for this piece’s Making-Of.

More MTGinktober here.

Daily art updates on Instagram, Twitter, and Bluesky.

Reuxben

[xochilexart]

Poet of Unity

I was feeling particularly Mexican on this day

[vcreatures]

This terror of the skies was inspired by all the incredible Magic the Gathering illustrations I’ve been seeing. While I didn’t work on any of the current card illustrations I did work on the MMO Action RPG Magic: Legends as a contributing concept artist. It was one of the highlights in my artistic career that I am forever grateful for. 

Ixalan was one of the projects I worked on and the Aerosaur was a particular favorite of mine. This is a bit of a reimagining to the original Aerosaur design. More avian vs overtly dinosaur. 

[grimecrow]

Just a reminder to all MTG fans...

If you were around during Ixalan you will know that this won't be the first time that Jace will spend most of a set's story not wearing pants.

[littjara-mirrorlake]

Better than Gaea's Cradle on account of the little guys

look at em!!

[relentless-gruul-siegeseer]

Jasna lands in the Legion camp her wings kicking up a swirl of fallen leaves and startling some legionnaires.

You the lot from Ixalan right? Where's that wholesome pair of gay lovebirds? I got potions and healing to administer and manors to wreck!

@dusk-legion-diplomacy

[dusk-legion-diplomacy]

God Speaks

A fragile quiet that had fallen over Torrezon. After almost a year spent in reconstruction, it finally felt as though the continent was going to stabilize. New methods for cleansing the ground of oil were being developed, uneasy bonds were being formed... perhaps life without war was possible.

That ended with the coming of dusk. That ended when the screaming began.

That ended with but one sentence echoing through the souls of every vampire across the continent.

My children. It is time.

History will remember the beginning of the Age of Ever-Flowing Blood beginning with slaughter. Dozens cascaded into hundreds of lives lost during the first call. Nobles, clerics, even some of the paladins all fell that night, giving in to their worst instincts. They pounced and chased and devoured the humans that they were supposed to protect, eyes wild, their true god having returned to them. Exultation and fervor burned within them all.

And that is when the Legion responded in kind.

Paladins, long trained and honed in the art of resisting the influence of the Betrayer of the Night, began to intervene. Although they could not stop the initial frenzy, swift action would ensure thousands would not follow. Clerics joined them, binding and breaking the influence the fell god held over their brethren if they could, or deposing them as necessary.

Across the continent, a silent war would rage. The Legion and Church had known this day would come and stood ready to face it. Humans would begin seeing themselves evacuated from their homes with little explanation before explanation would come find them. There was little protesting after such events.

Escorts guarded by paladins and priests of all ranks and orders within the Legion brought them to some of the most fortified cities of Torrezon. Thousands would be moved to Alta Torrezon. It was easier to guard them, even if it did make these places targets. Better here than scattered.

Within the greatest and grandest cathedral in the heart of the continent, the silent war raged.

It is time to embrace who we were meant to be.

Bishops turned against their flocks, only to be stopped by those deemed lesser in rank. Many began crying about a promised end of days. None of their words were answered or argued. It was known that logic would not be what would win them the night.

It is time to throw off these embers of humanity. Embrace your nature! Embrace the beast within! The night is ours, my children!

The cathedral was full of the sounds of shouting and combat. Divine light flashed, weapons cut, bodies were slammed into the beautiful stonework. It was unknown among those fighting who would prevail. For a time, those fighting under the Church thought they would lose.

Saint Elenda ensured that would not happen.

Records of that evening would vary wildly from witness to witness. For those who fought the corruption of the Great Enemy, they felt an impregnable barrier form. They felt the warmth and touch of the divine that they had served for their entire lives, and many wept at how close they had come to losing it. Some had sworn they saw a glimpse of a second sun beginning to rise and set the sky alight with a cleansing fire before they too were consumed. Others said she was an avatar of fury and vengeance, forcing all who stood in her way to bend to her will.

The Great Enemy's influence was strong, but so long as the living Saint remained, his hold upon the vampires of Torrezon was limited. He knew this. She knew this. All knew how this was going to end.

The Pontifex struggled that night. When the first call came, he had called for himself to be restrained before he did something he would regret. He felt that deep hunger, that primal and blessed madness that had infested him ever since he felt the Rite, grow and thrash within the confines of his soul. He felt his mind begin to break and weaken, began to feel comfort in the whispering that called to him from a god - his god - and felt a large abyss begin to open and swallow him whole.

You will be free, my child. Let go.

He wanted to. Oh, how badly he wanted to. But something within him began to burn brighter than the influence of his more... destructive nature.

"We will be better!" he shouted. "We will not be our worst instincts!"

Power grew within him, and he felt himself claw his way out of that infinite abyss, yelling his defiance all the while. He screamed for what felt like hours. He tasted copper in his throat. The ones binding him did not once falter or let go. They had been ready for this eventuality. He was only released with the coming of the dawn.

The sun broke over the horizon, the skies turning from midnight to orange, beginning to reveal the breadth of the full carnage. Those who had been taken by madness retreated to darker places, harried by their once-brothers-in-arms.

Some would be able to recover. Some would return to the light and never look back. Others were not so lucky; they were the ones who were given mercy killings. Humans across the continent wanted answers, and the clergy began to respond. For the first time in months, conviction strengthened their voices, filling them with righteousness.

War had come to Torrezon. Horror had come to Torrezon.

But so long as the Legion could stand, the New Age never would.

---

Far off in the northernmost coasts of the continent, sequestered within a massive seaside cave, a god rested upon folded wings. Crimson bathed its face. The smell of iron was strong.

A new group of vampires had knelt before their sire, ready to receive his blessing.

The god looked to his chosen saint and herald. A grin was on her face. The god could not help but smile too.

War had come to this world. The end had finally come.

Wings flexed. Fangs were bared. Only one goal consumed the god now.

I'll eat the sun.

[bace-jeleren]

Jace and Vraska in the beginning of Ixalan:

[femmchantress]

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Magic card that’s left me so awestruck before

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Rampaging Ferocidon

All raptors are aggressive, but ferocidons seem to enjoy their prey's pain.

Artist: Jonathan Kuo TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link